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No doubt, ransomware is a serious problem. And operators of critical infrastructures are doing well, to keep their system infrastructure up to date to prevent them from being high jacked of ransomware. Because the damage could be high, as we have seen when UK hospitals have been hit by Locky and Wannacry ramsomware.

I had the pleasure to listen to Francesco de Meo, CEO of Germany’s biggest private healthcare and clinic enterprise at the data debates event in Berlin. He pointed out that ransomware is one of the biggest security threat for hospitals and that IT security is highly aware to protect against it.

(c) Robbert van der Steeg / Flickr

For sure he is wrong. Ransomware is a big threat, but also easy to defend. All you need is a proper implemented update process for you IT Systems.

The biggest threat for Hospitals are cyber weapons

In the past Hospitals have been always targets on warfare – irrespective of the Geneva Protocol or Hague Conventions. Even today we see hospitals hit in Syria by conventional weapons, with more over than 1000 airstrikes on 117 hospitals in 2016.

But if hospitals are a target on conventional warfare, what does it mean for cyber war?

It’s a serious consequence that they are priority targets for cyber weapons. As far we know from cyber weapons – their attacking vectors are much sophisticated. Using zero date exploits to intrude unnoticed by security guards, operating as sleeping agents waiting for remote commands and cover their tracks of attacker’s origin.

So how an ordinary hospital IT security infrastructure can prevent from being a target of cyber weapons?

As long governmental programs will foster the undisclosure of zero day exploits, we are running into an unsecure internet infrastructure. That’s why the biggest threats for hospital is not ransomware. It’s military and intelligence attackers. No critical infrastructure can prevent from being hit unless we define a worldwide proscription of cyber weapons.

Moreover than 230.000 computers in 150 countries had been infected by the ransomware WannaCry. This figures sounds like a success. But compared to former ransomware cyberattacks WannaCry failed. In 2016 the ransomware locky was taking the world in storm. In its peak locky infected about 90.000 computers per day.

IoT security risks by automatically attacks

Locky infected its victims by fake E-Mail Attachment. This attack uses “human fail” as vector. While WannaCry was using a “wormable” security exploit, which allowed to infect systems automatically. From a technical level the WannaCry attack is high dangerous, as it allows compromising systems automatically, while locky is always depending on user interaction. But the automatically attack vectors also allows to defend easily by patching the security holes in the affected systems.

It’s the patch, stupid!

WannaCry attack is based on a SMB exploit published by Shadow Broker Hacking Group. One month later Microsoft was publishing security patches for all Windows Versions with long term support. And most systems worldwide had been successful patched, when WannaCry stepped into world. So the WannaCry worm did not found enough unpatched systems to get feed fat. WannaCry’s automatically attacks starved.

But what if we get wormable IoT exploits?

For IoT devices the WannaCry attack vector is a nightmare. Automatically attacks are a reasonable way to highjack IoT devices as we will have billions of connected micro controllers which are running in the background. If you want to attack them, you can’t rely on user interactions to infect them as most of them will never require interfaces for direct users interaction. Keep in mind all the sensor nodes and gateways to collect environmental or industrial data for running smart cities, smart home and industry 4.0 applications. So attackers are relied on “wormable” exploits to infect those IoT systems by mass.

Feeding the worms in IoT

And they will find feed for such exploits in IoT world. Patching IoT systems is a nightmare compared to a Windows Systems ecosystem. In IoT there is no well-organized patching infrastructure in behind, which will provide security patches in a reasonable time and has the ability to deliver them worldwide to system administrators.

The IoT world is splitted in many vendors. Providing often low cost components, where maintenance is not part of the system concept or business model. By that the number of unpatchable IoT components is increasing every day dramatically. It’s in your smart city, smart home and industry.

All what attackers need is a common automatically security exploit to run a successful infection campaign. As most IoT systems are based upon embedded software there will be a plenty of options to attack. For example, the SMB exploit of WannaCry also affects LINUX Samba SMB services and makes some of them vulnerable for remote execution.

Dramatic Headline, I know. Summarize my talk at this years IoTWeek 2016 Belgrad in Belgrad and let me convince you that I’ve picked a weak headline.

Also this year IoTWeek 2016 Belgrad I’ve seen awesome presentations from people all around the world, mainly aiming to make cities smarter to improve citizens quality of lilfe: better transportation service, improve carbon footprint or waste management. I’ve watched smart busstops, smart power grids and smart security solutions. Designed by smart researchers and smart people of smart companies and smart citizen organizations. Everything and everybody is smart. Really? I don’t believe that we step into a smart decade.

At a lot of hopes are tendered to this smart vision. One main objective: let’s make citizens life smarter, easier or even better happier. But do we achieve that, without paying a bill? Sure not. And let me tell why I am not a believer in smart.

Back in the 90s when Internet was rising, this playground was an open space of free speech and endless prospects. 25 years later this liberate networked turned more and more from public to private spaces of cloud services provider as facebook, whatsapp, Google or Apple. We shifted our Internet consumption to this “free” user places operated under the restriction of companies user agreements. With a drastic effect: We communicate on surveillance of speech and behavior.

Now, imagine what will happen to us, if this pattern will shift to smart cities? Cities of sensors and actors. Turning cities under the restriction of companies end user agreements is the ’s the end of public spaces as we know it.

In a funny way Hollywood did in early 90’s a bad joke of smart cities in the Movie Demolition Man by the Violence of Speech penalty:

Now – is this really absurd? Unfortunately not. In general cities – so far I know them – do not have big budgets to invest and operate smart services. They rely on public or private funding. Public private partnerships are one way to turn and improve cities with smart augmented layers.

Cities can outsource smart services and citizens get in return professional services – and I really believe that companies are much better in designing products than cities. Why? They do this to maximize products. Satisfied and happy customers are source of success and revenues.

Do you still believe that the Demolition Man utopia is weird fiction?

Well, Chinese government decided in 2015 to do a test run on a giant private partnership program: Introducing “chinese social credits” to reward requested behavior and strike misbehavior.

Now adopt Chinese way to the western commercial business society. Voila, here it is: a smart city designed for our happiness, to optimize cities cost structures and operators revenue.

By living in this city you agree to the end user agreement of Google. Please update your credit card data.